Drop in surgeries since Sydney lockout

Serious facial trauma admissions at Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital have dropped by around 60 per cent since the lockout laws were introduced, according to a new study.

Since the laws went live two years ago, there have been operations on 58 facial trauma patients compared to 145 patients in the two years prior to the laws, surgeons at the Sydney hospital say.

Lead researcher Dr Elias Moisidis has credited the drop to the NSW government's liquor law reforms.

"(The) laws changed the dynamics and resulted in a significant reduction in patients presenting to St Vincent's with facial injuries requiring operations," said the surgeon, from the Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Maxillofacial Surgery.

The research, released on Thursday, reveals the greatest drop of injuries was in the period between 10pm and 6am.

"This will likely reduce the socio-economic burden on the public healthcare system," Dr Moisidis said in a statement.